Albertans claimed $330 million in 2023 due to severe weather

Article content material

Albertans claimed greater than $330 million by means of their insurance coverage firms final yr for extreme weather-related damages, in response to the Insurance coverage Bureau of Canada (IBC).

That made up a good portion of Canada’s whole $3.1 billion in weather-related claims in 2023 — the fourth-highest for the reason that IBC began amassing information in 1982.

Article content material

“Alberta is punching above its weight when it comes to the quantity of insured harm and monetary losses as a result of extreme climate, in comparison with different provinces,” mentioned Aaron Sutherland, IBC’s vice-president of Pacific and Western.

Article content material

Extreme and unpredictable climate occasions have gotten an more and more alarming development in Alberta, Sutherland mentioned.

One of many greatest culprits has turn out to be flash hail and heavy rain: greater than $100 million in claims have been paid to restore or change autos after hailstorms and flooding final yr.

Whereas 2023 was a report yr for wildfires in Alberta and throughout the nation, hail was nonetheless the most important offender final yr when it got here to insured damages. The buildup of a number of transient storms in July triggered vital harm, Sutherland added.

‘Hail is an actual problem’

A violent storm on July 18, 2023, that blew by means of the Drugs Hat space resulted in additional than $100 million in damages, Sutherland mentioned. That storm knocked out energy to greater than 7,000 prospects on the west aspect of Drugs Hat, with footage exhibiting branches strewn throughout neighbourhoods and hail the dimensions of a loonie.

“What we’re seeing now could be extra precipitation, extra rain over a shorter time frame,” Sutherland mentioned. “In the case of auto, hail is an actual problem as a result of there’s not a ton we are able to do to mitigate that harm.”

Article content material

Article content material

Wildfires have gotten a rising concern for insurers, he added, although these occasions pose much less of a danger than hailstorms.

“As a result of danger to houses and companies . . . the chance to structural harm is excessive. We’ve acquired a fairly unimaginable hearth service right here in Alberta . . . however, sadly, the developments are all going within the incorrect route,” he mentioned, including the continued drought situations are making 2024 seem like an “extraordinarily regarding yr.”

The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire resulted in upwards of $5 billion in claims, Sutherland mentioned.

Since 2020, IBC mentioned, insured losses as a result of extreme climate have exceeded $4 billion. That included $1.2 billion in insurable damages alone from the June 2020 hailstorm that ripped by means of Calgary’s northeast communities, dropping tennis ball-sized hail on homes and autos.

Alberta amongst highest auto insurance coverage premiums in Canada

The growing danger of outlier years by which insurers declare extra damages than regular is inserting strain on premiums, Sutherland mentioned.

Alberta has the second-highest common auto insurance coverage premiums amongst all Canadian provinces, in response to the Alberta Vehicle Insurance coverage Price Board’s 2023 mid-year report. Premiums in Alberta, at $1,636, went up 5.1 per cent from the primary half of 2022. It was solely behind Ontario, at $1,758, for the most expensive common premium — and effectively forward of third-place Newfoundland and Labrador ($1,306).

Article content material

The Alberta authorities in November capped insurance coverage value will increase at 3.7 per cent, saying it’s a Band-Help measure to restrict prices.

The province is “exploring all choices to make auto insurance coverage extra reasonably priced in Alberta,” the Treasury Board and Finance Ministry mentioned in a Jan. 23 assertion to Postmedia, saying it has commissioned an exterior marketing consultant to conduct an evaluation of its present system.

The IBC is asking on the federal government to “urgently” implement the reforms, saying the speed cap is placing insurance coverage firms underneath pressure.

— With information from Hiren Mansukhani

mscace@postmedia.com
X: @mattscace67

Article content material